Die Leiden des jungen Werther (1976)

Synopsis
by Clarke Fountain

In 1775, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe published The Sorrows of Young Werther, a novel which sympathetically told the story of a young nature-lover's hopeless passion for a married woman and his subsequent suicide. The novel created a sensation all over Europe, and is considered to be a critical hallmark signalling the start of the Romantic movement in art and literature, a movement which counterbalanced the philosophical Rationalism pioneered by the French. The Romantic movement emphasized nature and feelings instead of reason alone as touchstones of humanity. This East German film brings Werther from Goethe's book to the screen.